Could This be Love?
by srf-jesusppl
Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome are fighting again, no surprise it's over Kikyo. She has loved Inuyasha for so long, but could she find solcist in the arms of another? And does she have that choice, or has someone eles already claimed her? Sesshomaru/Kagome
1. Uncertainty and Fits of Anger

"Inuyasha" Kagome bellowed into the darkness. "Inuyasha where are you?" She paused, as if expecting a response. "What the hell is going on here first Sango is gone, then Miroku and Shippo go missing, and now I can't find Inuyasha. And I can't go home because Inuyasha has the jewel shards" Kagome informed herself with a sigh. She slumped down next to the well, lightly tugging at the tall grass surrounding it.

Musing through her thoughts she found herself once again focusing on a particularly violent argument she had with Inuyasha the previous day. Her mind danced on each and every word that had conspired between the pair, and with a gleam of repentance in her eye, she weakly began to sob into her hands.

* * *

"If you love that bitch so much Inuyasha, why you just go and rot in hell with her?"

"You have no right to speak about Kikyo like that, you're just the half-shelled whore remains of her spirit" howled Inuyasha.

Kagome stood aback for a moment, strangled by the cruelty in his words. They may have fought before over Kikyo, but he had never called Kagome anything in retort, much less the remains of his previous lover.

Reclaiming her speech Kagome fumed. "You're just a great big show off aren't you?" If he could hurt her, she could certainly hurt him. "You walk around, your head held high, your sword unsheathed. But if only all your enemies could see the real you. The pale, fragile little human who runs from the new moon, like a dog with his tail between his legs." Kagome could see the tension mounting as Inuyasha balled his fist tightly, his nails drawing blood. She didn't care, he deserved it. "You're a pathetic and worthless excuse of a demon. Not even worth--" Kagome silenced as she felt the blood stained hand crash into her cheek, the impact sent her on a collision course with the back wall of their small hut. As she hit the ground, her vision blurred, and her body numb as she slowly lost consciousness.

* * *

Kagome's sobs slowly subsided as she held her head tightly between her knees. Breathing in she let her hands linger once again to the ground, now ripping at the grasses she cursed herself. The sting of the thin red cut on her cheek as her last tear rolled down sent a wave of shivers through her body. 'I hate him.' She thought. 'No, I can't hate him, though I want to. After everything we have been through I just can't bring myself to hate him.'

The grass was moist between her fingers; she looked around expectantly when she heard a light rustling of nearby leaves, but sadly sunk back into her somber mood when she found it was only the wind. Kagome was close to crying again when she heard again the soft rustling of the leaves, believing it was again only the wind she kept focused on the dew covered ground. It came as a great startle to her when a voice spoke from close behind.

"You are Inuyasha's woman aren't you?"

Kagome gripped her heart as it attempted to leap from her chest. She spun around to latch her eyes upon the voice in question. Angrily she gritted her teeth; she didn't need this aggravation right now. Especially not from such a self absorbed and vain person as Sesshomaru.

"Let me make this one thing very clear to you; I am not now, nor have I ever been," 'or most likely never will be' she thought, "Inuyasha's woman! Understood?"

Sesshomaru took a step back, more than a little startled by her reaction. He simply wanted to know where his brother was, he had had no intentions of insulting anyone. He could only assume by the way Inuyasha always reacted to her, that this girl was his mate.

"Umm," he fumbled to find the right words for a moment, "ok, I just was asking. No need for such a vulgar reaction." He regained his cool composure.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Kagome grew tired of Sesshomaru and his seemingly endless knowledge of insults.

"I don't believe that that is of any concern to you. The real question is what you are doing here alone without your little puppy dog in tow. It seems that wherever you are--" Sesshomaru averted his eyes as tears began to stream down the girls flushed pink cheeks. Against his better judgment he looked at her. Her raven hair began to matt down to the sides of her face as the tears began to flow."Honestly? What the hell did I say wrong this time? I didn't say you belonged to him or anything. He's just always with you."

"No. It's fine, you didn't say anything wrong" She moaned, rubbing the tears away from her eyes.

"I may not be privy to such human emotions as you are, but I am no fool. No one cries when they are fine." He paused for a moment. "Stupid human emotions" he mumbled angrily. He began to walk away when he felt a sharp jab of pain in the back of his head. He turned to see the girl standing there, her face red with anger, and with pain. Sesshomaru looked down at his feet to see a small oval shaped pebble, the apparent source of his pain. "What the hell?" He stammered, he hadn't done anything to her. 'I will never understand these damn humans.

"Fine. Just go and leave me like everyone else in this life does."

"What are you talking about? You said you were fine. I don't have all day for your silly little games."

"I was crying! How can someone be fine when they are crying?"

"Well if you're not fine then don't say your fine."

"Fine. I'm not fine! Is that better?"

"It would be if you'd stop shouting."

"I'm not shouting." Sesshomaru rolled his eyes at her teary-eyed denial. "Fine. I'm shouting. I'm shouting, I'm shouting!" Kagome trashed her arms in the air as she began to wildly stomp the ground and let out an ear bursting wail. To Sesshomaru, it looked as though the girl was having an all out convulsion. He made a mental note to teach Rin self-containment if she ever felt the need to revert to such actions.

Kagome stood still for a minute, still fuming; she breathed deep relaxing breaths, regaining her composure. She looked up to see Sesshomaru slowly beginning to back away. His face told that he thought she may explode again at any minute.

"Don't go." She whispered. At first, the thought of having Sesshomaru around was rather annoying, but as she looked up into his confused golden eyes, she realized at the moment she didn't have anyone else. And even a cold hearted demon that was willing to listen, was better than no one at all.

Sesshomaru stood apprehensively for a moment, taking in her appearance; she looked as if her episode was over, but he couldn't be sure and was not in any way willing to deal with a hormonal teenage girl. Yet, there was something in her eyes that caught him, a sparkle of interest that peaked his curiosity. Besides, he had nothing better to do, without knowing where to find Inuyasha, Sesshomaru had no better place to be.

Again, against his better judgment, Sesshomaru nodded slowly as he settled down next to the raven haired girl. An awkward silence fell between the two, as they both searched for what to say.


	2. An Interesting Conversation

Author's Note: Alright, so let me put a little disclaimer here, I don't own Inuyasha, so please don't sue me not that you would get much anyway. Also, I am coming back and rewriting a story that I started when I was 12 so please give me some credit for the improvements that I have made, by which I mean please leave a constructive review… or any review for that matter. It just gives me a bit more incentive to do this. ;-)

Thank you,

Katherine

Now, on with the show.

It was Kagome who found her voice first.

"Sesshomaru?" She questioned.

"Hum?" He turned his head to face the girl next to him. Timidly she began to play with her hair, peaking at him from under her eyelashes every now and then; they sat in silence for a short while until she again found her voice.

"Do you think that I am attractive?" She bit her bottom lip, peering down at the ground with half lidded eyes. Sesshomaru sat startled for a moment. What was he supposed to say to this, wasn't this that trick that female humans played on males to ensnare them in saying something stupid? The answer was quite simple, the girl who sat before him was indeed 'attractive' as one might say. Anyone could see that, perhaps that was the best way to answer, with the simple truth.

"Yes" he muttered when speech finally found him. He eyed her surreptitiously for a moment looking for the signs of an impending brake down. When he found none, he decided that this answer had been the correct one.

"Then why," he heard the cracking in her voice and groaned, 'we're all human women this hard to please', "is it that I find myself here alone?"

Sesshomaru sat puzzled for a minute. "I'm here?" He asked slightly annoyed.

"That's not what I mean, sure you are here now, but the person that I have been in love with for the past three years isn't here, and he's not here to keep me from crying. In fact he's the reason I'm crying in the first place. What is wrong with me that he doesn't love me in the way I love him? Why doesn't he love me the way that he loves Kikyo? Am I such a hideous person that no one could love me?" She began to weep openly now, her tears falling down her cheeks, staining her school blouse.

'How could I begin to explain the answer to that' Sesshomaru thought silently as the girl began to cry. Sesshomaru had often before wondered to himself why it seemed that Inuyasha was trapped between loving two different women. Why wasn't it easy for him to dump the one that seemed to not reciprocate those feelings, and love the one who would seemingly do anything for him? How could he begin to tell her what he had been told about this? There was a reason, not that Kagome was hideous or undesirable, but an actual reason that made more sense than her incomprehensible ramblings. But how to tell her, or should he even tell her? No, now was not the time.

Sesshomaru shifted slightly so he was facing the raven haired girl, better able to see her swollen and tear stained cheeks. "Kagome" he spoke softly, "it has been my experience that Inuyasha will always be a person that is split between two worlds; between the demon and the human worlds, between the bout of consciously wanting to become a full demon while wishing to remain as intact with his human past as possible, why is it that his love life should be different?"

'There', he thought, in some roundabout way he had explained the jest of it. Though not understanding Inuyasha's background, Kagome would never get this hint.

Kagome stiffened for a moment, staring at this white haired human-like beast who sat before her. Her eyes quivered, was it as simple as that, could her lover's feelings be simply placed on such a seesaw for the simple fact that he was a half breed?

Sesshomaru sighed, seeing the confusion and hurt in her eyes, he made swift to elaborate. "It is not as if I am saying human emotions such as these are so easily effected but somewhat of a meaningless circumstance. But the fact of the matter is, because Inuyasha is a half breed, that is his personality, he will always want to have everything both ways. Which in this case, will not be a tolerable ending?" He eyed her again; from the look on her face she did seem to get it this time. He sighed again and leaned back on the wall.

"I see now. But the thing is he can have it both ways." Sesshomaru cocked his head a bit, this time it was he who was lost in the conversation. "I already told Inuyasha that he could see both Kikyo and me, I just wanted him to treat us as equals in the relationship. You know? Like that we both meant the same to him. But all he seems to care about lately is Kikyo, and not me. I guess I just got jealous."

Sesshomaru sat there in horror for what seemed to be an eternity, had he heard this correctly. His younger brother had been allowed to date both women, and yet he still acted like this? And what was wrong with this woman for allowing this to happen, where was herself respect?

"What? Are you serious, you let him date that other women while still with you?" Kagome nodded her head slowly sighing as she looked at the ground. "I don't understand this? To me you seem like such a self-righteous women, and yet you let that mutt degrade you in such a manner?"

"Sometimes you do things for love you wouldn't do otherwise" she pouted, turning her face away so he couldn't see the tears that were beginning to well up in her eyes.

"That is what you call love? I hardly see the interest in that. For something to be so valuable that you humans would often so easily die for it, it would seem to me that this love would be a bit more precious, sacred. Love is not something that can be thrown aside. How can someone say they love you, and then leave as easily as another woman comes by? No, this is not love. Even I can see that this is not love."

At this Kagome stood, forcible pushing off the ground with her feet, she started down at Sesshomaru. "How can you sit there and talk to me about love? How can you tell me what is and what is not love? You a person who has never felt love, who has never felt anything for that matter, besides hatred and anger, how can you begin to tell me what love is. You're just a pompous demon who thinks that because he can fight, that because he can understand how to read an opponent's battle styles that he can understand how to read someone's feelings?"

Sesshomaru stared up in disbelief for a moment, caught off guard by her swift change in attitude. Then he saw it, that gleam again; that small sparkle of silver dash across her eyes. The twinkle of interest that danced in her iris caught. It was as an entrancing fire ensnaring it's pray with its beauty and wonder, that gleam, that sparkle, had caught him. Sesshomaru then felt a sudden tingle within himself; a buzzing, and lightness within his stomach. He felt sheepish and quiet honestly shy at the same time, he could feel his lips redden, and cheeks began to set a flame. Before he could adjust himself, Kagome looked bent down next to him, a slight twinge of guilt on her face.

"Sesshomaru? Sesshomaru are you okay?" Her eyes twinkled again and he lost it. Sesshomaru threw himself as Kagome, pushing her back as his lips landed on hers. Startled at first Kagome lay still, unsure of what to do, then as she felt Sesshomaru's soft lips begin to move against hers she melted into his kiss.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him closer. Feeling his pale skin next to hers, she entwined her fingers loosely into his long white hair, curling the locks around her fingers. She could feel the gentle touch of his hand on her face, cupping the edge of chin lightly as he pulled her lips closer to his.

It was soft at first; gentle pecks of exploration curiously tasting the other. Then it became frantic. Their lips smashed against each other, soft explosions of passion coming together as they soaked in each others feel. They could feel a heat pass through them. A burning flame that bound them tighter together; stronger then passion, deeper then lust, they could feel the flame reach within them, brazing their very soul with its soft touch.

Sesshomaru pulled away, breaking the kiss, he threw himself back against the well. Unable to look at Kagome, he turned his head to face to forest where a pair of eyes watched the two figures intently. Inuyasha then stepped forward, a look of confusion brushed on his face.

Kagome sat up looking from Sesshomaru to Inuyasha. She blushed slightly when Inuyasha began to point from her to his brother. Then, as if on the wind, Sesshomaru was gone. Leaving behind the confused pair of lovers, who now gazed inquisitively into each other's eyes.


	3. Into the Woods

It was Inuyasha who spoke first. "What the hell was that?" His nostrils flared as he stared at Kagome.

Kagome just sat there for a moment, lost in thought. '_What _was that? I don't know what that was, but it felt—' her thought was cut short as Inuyasha moved forward to stand right in front of the girl.

"Huh" she looked up at him absentmindedly for a moment. Inuyasha growled at the obvious lost of his words. Lowering himself to her level, he looked her in the eyes trying to catch her in a lie.

"What was that? I saw you, kissing him. You know who he is Kagome, how could you do that to me? You're with me not him." At this Kagome laughed, for some reason she found it funny for Inuyasha to mention their relationship in any serious manner. "You think that is funny? Kagome, I just caught you cheating on me, with my brother none the less."

"Yes, and I caught you sleeping Kikyo on what was supposed to be our night together. So I think that there is a little bit of room for compromise here. Besides it wasn't cheating it was just a kiss." 'Even if it was the best kiss I have ever had.' Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously as she looked off into the distance.

After a minuet he spoke again, a bit more sardonically. "I don't believe you, I know that look in your eyes. It's the same look you had in your eyes the first time we made love. That's it I want you to go back to your world. You need to be around your own kind for awhile, you're starting to act like those filthy demons like in the brothels." Inuyasha grabbed her arm pulling her to her feet; he made to push her into the well, but was stopped when suddenly a hand slapped him across the face. He stumbled back a bit, surprised by Kagome's force.

"You have no right to judge me Inuyasha, look at what you are doing, and besides it was a simple kiss. You are a disgusting person; you wallow in your own filth, and yet judge others when they for once take librates to do what their heart pulls them to." Kagome pulled her arm away; at the brink of tears she suddenly felt a strong overwhelming feeling of uncertainty, of confusion. But it didn't seem to one of her own emotions, it seemed foreign, she quickly pushed aside the thought as Inuyasha recovered from his stupor and began to advance on her.

Inuyasha grabbed her by the arms, pulling her close he looked her in the eye. "What I do is none of your business. As for kissing my brother, you belong to me. You are never allowed to even think of another man, do you understand me. You are mine!" Inuyasha forced his lips upon hers, crushing her in a passionate and furious kiss. He bit at her bottom lip, eliciting a few droplets of blood. Kagome struggled against the kiss, thrashing her arms against his chest; trying to push him away she bit his tongue as he forced it into her mouth. With a yelp Inuyasha stumbled back, growling as he held his mouth closed in pain.

Not to be one to miss her chance, Kagome screamed, "Sit boy!" Inuyasha immediately plummeted to the ground, again and again Kagome yelled, "Sit boy!" Continuing until Inuyasha was no longer conscious. As she realized that he wouldn't be waking anytime soon, Kagome again felt the strange overwhelming feeling of confusion that was not hers. 'Strange' she thought, 'maybe this is what Sesshomaru is feeling? But how can I feel what he's feeling? I am a stupid woman.' Kagome quickly passed the thought, but as she looked down at the unconscious dog demon she couldn't shake the odd sensation that this foreign emotion did belong to her kissing pal. 'I have to see him. I have to...' she trailed off as a grown came from the figure below, 'get out of here.'

Kagome turned on her heels, running from the clearing with all the strength that her legs possessed, she ran west, she remembered where Sesshomaru's castle was, although she had only seen it in passing, she remembered quite clearly where is had been.

* * *

Kagome had been running for almost an hour straight, though she had slowed to a very slow jog by the time she was sure that Inuyasha would not have an easy time catching up, she continued to roam to forest in the direction of west looking for the northern border of the forest where a small road, usually only traveled by bandits, would lead her to him.

She stopped suddenly, pulling and arrow from her holder, she raised her bow in the direction of the disturbance. Before her she saw Kikyo leaning against a tree in the distance, snickering lightly at the fright on the girls face Kikyo walked forward, holding her hands up to show no sign of causing harm.

"You sure are jumpy my dear little copy." Kagome growled although she did lower her weapon. "Where are you off to in such a hurry anyway without Inuyasha following after you? This is a very dangerous part of the forest, I wouldn't expect to find you here unprotected." Kikyo was confused by the suddenly sad look upon Kagome's face. "You seem to be upset?"

"Hum. You should know, Inuyasha is all yours now, I don't want anything to do with him anymore."

"Why the sudden change of heart, I thought that you were in love with him."

"I was in love with him, but I can't share my love for the rest of my life, and besides, lately he hasn't been the same person I feel in love with."

"Yes I have noticed that as well," Kikyo looked thoughtful for a moment, "Kagome, there is something that I have been thinking about for awhile now, do you think it would be ok if I shared with you?" Kagome hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was going to be a conversation she wanted to have with her lovers other half. Slowly she nodded her head, moving to sit against a large Sakura where Kikyo had moved to.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Kikyo thought of how to best word her opening line.

* * *

Almost an hour later Kagome stood looking in to Kikyo's seemingly lifeless eyes which now shimmered slightly with a contentedness Kagome had never before seen. Smiling she went to embrace the taller girl briefly, pulling away she again looked at her. An unspoken thank you fell from Kikyo's face. Turning away, Kikyo vanished into the light mist of the forest.

'Goodbye Kikyo.'

Kagome turned and headed in the opposite direction again, toward west. She didn't get far before she felt the odd sensation that she was being watched. Thinking that it was Inuyasha again she spun around yelling, "Sit boy!" When she heard nothing, she shrugged perceiving it to be nothing but an over active imagination.

It was a callous laughing that brought her to a stop this time. Shrinking into the trunk of a nearby tree, she began to shake as she recognized the owner of the laugh. "Naraku? What do you want? Show yourself!" Holding her bow in the defensive position she jumped as she felt two arms slink around her waist. Pulling himself through the tree trunk Naraku pulled the struggling Kagome close to his body, check to check he whispered into her ear.

"Hello little miko, what are you doing out here all alone?" Kagome stilled as the arms pulled tighter and his hot breath could be felt against the skin of her neck. "Speechless? Hum, that's not like you Kagome, you usually have so much to say that I often get tired of listening to you." Kagome again said nothing, shutting her eyes tight she winced a little as she felt a pair of fangs begin to nibble lightly at her ear lobe.

"What do you want?" She managed to stammer as she held back to fear in her voice.

"Ah, Kagome isn't it obvious? I have come for you."


	4. A Stolen Desire

Note form the Author:

It has been a staggering five years since I have updated this story. I was in seventh grade; now having graduated from college and beginning a nursing program in November, I find myself with time to fill while I am not at work, which has unbelievable lead me back here. Reading these stories I had such faith in, they seem now to be a bit understated to what I thought they were at the time, but now having developed my writing style into something I would hope be deemed more suitable and, for lack of a better word, better … I hope they are suited to the imagination of my mind, as I once again set out to write a story. I hope it turns out like I dreamed. (Oh, and in the case that some of you are wondering if the whole seventh grade plus five years equals college, I started at a two year college my second year in high school and graduated with an AS in Health Careers and my diploma. High school just wasn't my bag I suppose:-)

Thank you for reading,

Katherine

* * *

It was a staggering cold and searing feeling, which leaked through the flesh as molten lava. A quenching thirst for death as your heart was ripped, beating, from the cavity of your chest. It stopped him cold. The flash of intense heaviness weighed down upon him as if a truck had unloaded a top his head. He tried to breathe as he sat silent in his room, stirring only from jabs of heated pain.

A heart attack? In a demon? Unheard of. Besides it didn't even feel as if it was his pain, it felt as if it was a reflection of pain. Some sort of phantom limb syndrome. Pain that wasn't really there. Sesshomaru seems to be feeling sympathy pains.

"Unbelievable." He mused. "Even now, here, that woman's eyes still gaze upon me as if to curse me with her sorrows. It's haunting really to feel for another the pain they bare." He arose from the bed, letting his long hairs trickle down the sides of his shoulders. "Is this what she feels for me? Is this what our kiss caused? Is this wrenched weight to pull me down forever? Why do I feel myself pulled to her, as if… I long for her? And why the hell am I talking to myself? This must be settled."

With a gaping stride he left the room, down the stairs, and slipped quietly into the embrace of the moonlight. As the clock in the east dining hall struck midnight, he vanished in the midst of the trees.

A fate less appealing than death awaited her as the wrist watch her grandfather gave her chirped twelve. Kagome twisted and pulled as the weathered ropes only dug deeper. Naraku's room had a foul dungeons sort of mold like scent to it, as if someone left a basket of odd French Cheeses in an air ventilator shaft and the putrid stank spread for miles.

"Dear god," her nose wrinkled, "what the hell it that? A fucking dying cat? Maybe if I breathe enough of it in, I can die before the bastard returns." Kagome found herself laughing as she lay there haunted by the implications of her situation.

She was stuck to a mat, clinging to the brink of her sanity, as she waited for her most despised nemesis to come through the door and use her as a personal pin cushion. Kagome strangely found herself feeling as if her intentional whelping by a flared Inuyasha was perhaps not the worst point in her life.

Footsteps. Coming down the hall, calm, rhythmic footsteps echoing throughout the corer door. They stopped at the door; a moment passed which by her standards felt like a lifetime. Perhaps they wouldn't come in. The door slide open, and a slice of moonlight filled the hall, and Naraku's slender figure sauntered into the illumination.

"Hello." His voice seethed with poisonous intent. The door shut quietly as he walked closer, passing her by, he sat beneath the window. Kagome's lower lip began to quiver with fearful anticipation. "As I explained to you before, this is nothing personal. It is simply left to the fact that I am indeed left with a human entity coursing through my veins. A human who calls for me to desire, or rather need, human things." He leaned forward, stroking the soft apple of her cheek. "Things, of which I am afraid I can no longer sedate. My human self longs for the presence of the priestess Kikyo, but as her body smells of the grave, he feels compelled to you; the reincarnation of his hearts lust. I will hope you harbor no foul feeling toward me when this is over, perhaps we could still remain friends?" Naraku's haunting laugh filled the room as he climbed forward pressing into her.

Kagome till now lay still in a frightful paralysis, as the touch of his ice cold skin revived her, she began to thrash her legs and arms in every direction. Her shrieks echoed for the farthest reaches of his castle. She raged back and forth, forcing her muscles to burst forces of strength as she fought against what seemed to be a brick wall.

His laugh again. It sent the hairs on the back of her neck spiraling out of control, as if they were trying to pull themselves out.

"Yes, yes try as you may. I won't get you anywhere; it just makes it better for me." Kagome felt the force of his knee separate her thighs she had been clenching together. She screamed as his spine-like fingers ripped through the flesh on her side, leaving stretch marks of blood across her stomach.

"Don't fret, my dear Kagome, after all, it's just beginning."

There it was a shriek of pain, clearer now. He could smell her sent, she had been here recently. He could smell many odors here; graveyard soil, and the putrid stench of a half demon, but most intriguingly the definitive smell of Naruku and Kagome's sent mixing as they trailed off to the north.

Sesshomaru could feel his cheeks burning with furry. "Naraku, you insolent fool, I will have your head."

Ok, so that was my first attempt at continuing what I began. I hope that it doesn't disappoint. Hopefully if it's liked I'll keep it coming.

Thanks for rating,

Katherine


End file.
